Best Masks In Horror Movies

Masks are a classic must-have when it comes to villains in horror movies. Not only do they hide the antagonist’s true identities, so they can come out unscathed and run easier from the law, but they make them even more terrifying to their victims. Masks are usually a good way to leave a long-lasting impression on fans of horror cinema.

Over the years, many horror villains have left their mark on the population, and those with masks are even more iconic as they can easily become costumes for fans of the genre. These types of props are especially popular in slasher films as they provide filmmakers with a means to create an instantly identifiable figure; however, great masks can be difficult to find. The upcoming masked horror villains represent the peak of this concept.

Updated November 12, 2024, by Hamza Haq: Horror movies that simply rely on jump scares and cheap tricks to terrorize the viewer no longer have an audience. More than being scared, viewers want to be invested and immersed in a horror film before they are properly impressed. A key way filmmakers introduce a feeling of suspense and tension in their movies is by using masks to hide the identity of the antagonist, shrouding who they really are behind an air of mystery. In horror movies, the masks often become more recognizable and more iconic than the characters behind them. The list has been updated with three new horror movies featuring characters with masks that have become a part of modern culture.

8 Jigsaw

Saw

• IMDb Rating: 7.6
• Genre(s): Horror, Crime
• Runtime: 1h 43m

Jigsaw, the main antagonist of the Saw series, appears in front of his victims in the form of a small doll with an iconic white and red mask, usually as a video recording. Over time, the Jigsaw mask has become synonymous with one of the most terrifying villains ever shown in a movie, a mastermind who is never caught off guard and always has a plan for every situation, even past his own death.

While the doll Jigsaw uses to personify himself evolves over the course of the many movies, the mask does not. Even Jigsaw’s successors, the people who take up the original’s mantle after he passes away, keep using Jigsaw’s mask and a modulated raspy voice to give the illusion that the original is still alive and the punishment of the unworthy will never stop.

7 Frank

Donnie Darko

• IMDb Rating: 8.0
• Genre(s): Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
• Runtime: 1h 53m

Donnie Darko tells the story of Donald, a troubled child who starts having hallucination-like visions of an entity calling itself Frank. Frank appears to Donnie wearing a full-body black Rabbit costume with a horrifying rabbit mask that looks as if the animal’s features are halfway melted in a fire. The eyes are sunken and pure white, the ears and forehead appear melted, and the teeth jut out as if the upper lip is missing. Donnie Darko is considered one of the great horror classics, and people may forget the plot, the supporting cast, and even the main character, but they will never forget Frank’s iconic black rabbit mask.

6 Smilers

The Purge

• IMDb Rating: 5.7
• Genre(s): Horror, Action, Crime
• Runtime: 1h 25m

The premise of The Purge ensured that all people who choose to do violence during the events of the movies have to wear some sort of mask in order to avoid having their identity leaked. These masks varied from person to person, but the Smiler Masks, simple skin-colored masks with bulging cheeks and a wide smile, were the most iconic and, eventually, became synonymous with the movies themselves. Few things are as terrifying as seeing a smiling visage staring at a victim while holding a gun with the promise of impending violence. The Smilers in The Purge are all the more horrifying for the dichotomy of their seemingly innocent-looking masks and their casually brutal actions.

The Smiling Mask is a commonality shared by many different characters but none so famous as The Smiling Purger, also called The Polite Stranger and The Appropriate Gentleman, who was one of the main antagonists in the first Purge.

5 Leatherface

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

• IMDb Rating: 7.4
• Genre(s): Horror, Crime
• Runtime: 1h 23m

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s antagonist, Leatherface kills as a means of survival and out of fear. He uses two weapons, a chainsaw and a sledgehammer, when going after his targets, and he will sometimes even resort to cannibalism.

The most disturbing aspect of this killer is that his masks are made out of human flesh. Throughout the movie, he wears three different ones – the “Killer Mask”, the “Old Lady Mask”, and the “Pretty Women Mask”. Leatherface uses each one to assume a particular identity and personality to make up for the fact he lacks one of his own, and it’s extremely creepy to fans. This disgusting mask perfectly fits the tone of 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

4 Hannibal Lecter

Silence of the Lambs

• IMDb Rating: 8.6
• Genre(s): Horror, Crime
• Runtime: 1h 58m

Hannibal Lecter was a successful psychiatrist and well-known cannibal. His family died in an explosion caused by a Nazi Stuka when he was young, and then he got captured by them with his sister. After starving for a while, his group, including himself, had to consume his sister to survive, which left him with extreme post-traumatic stress. After escaping, he was found by a Soviet tank crew and placed in an orphanage.

After being adopted by his uncle, his anger issues led him to kill and consumed a local butcher, which later spawned a series of murders and cannibalism. In the movie, he wears two masks, one made from an actual human, but the most iconic one for fans is his muzzle. While the latter is designed to protect people from Hannibal Lecter, that does not stop it from being intimidating.

3 Jason

Friday The 13th

• IMDb Rating: 6.4
• Genre(s): Horror, Crime
• Runtime: 1h 35m

Jason Voorhees is the antagonist of Friday the 13th movies, and he hunts anyone who trespasses Camp Crystal Lake and its surrounding area. On occasion, he has extended his hunting ground to reach areas like Manhattan. This killer has also been to space.

Jason was raised in isolation by his mother as a way to hide his facial deformities. When he finally attended the camp years later, he got bullied and almost drowned by some kids due to his physical appearance. After surviving and living on his own until adulthood, he never found his mother until she was murdered, which sparked his desire for revenge and overall blood.

Jason first hid his face with a burlap sack, but after losing it, he replaced it with a hockey mask from Shelly Finkelstein. Since then, it has been his most iconic accessory to hide his insecurities and identity. While generally consistent, Jason’s mask has evolved slightly over the years.

2 Ghostface

Scream

• IMDb Rating: 7.4
• Genre(s): Horror, Mystery
• Runtime: 1h 51m

Ghostface, the popular slasher movie villain, was introduced in the Scream franchise in 1996 with Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. Since then, the Edvard Munch-inspired mask has gotten passed down to a new villain with every new movie. However, no matter the latest killer, Ghostface remains voiced by the same person, Roger L. Jackson.

Ghostface is known to taunt and threatened his victims on the phone before stalking and then killing them with a hunting knife. His mask and voice-changer serve as a perfect method to remain incognito while he goes on the hunt. The Ghostface mask can look a bit goofy at times, but it fits Scream‘s horror-comedy tone quite well.

1 Michael Meyers

Halloween

• IMDb Rating: 7.7
• Genre(s): Horror, Crime
• Runtime: 1h 31m

Michael Meyers was introduced to the world in 1978 when the first Halloween movie was released. It focuses on Michael, aka the Shape or the Boogeyman, who started his villain journey when he murdered his older sister on Halloween night at the age of six years old. After breaking out of the mental institution he was staying at for the past 15 years, he came back to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with him. It is a Halloween tradition.

Michael hides his face with a white Captain Kirk mask from the Star Trek franchise to better increase the level of fear among his victims. As a normal-looking guy, he believed that wearing the Halloween mask was the only way to make him feel like “the embodiment of evil​​”.​​​